Our students learn differently and are already provided with more space than in a traditional educational setting. So, as we all look to the fall, know that MDE School’s 4:1 student to teacher ratio has always been in place, allowing our students to have the space they need for educational success. This ratio also makes social distancing a natural fit and allows our staff to be vigilant in their cleaning of high touch areas. Fall 2020 will be yet another opportunity to demonstrate the incredible potential of all learners. From 1-1 academics to small groups for life skills lessons to our vibrant elective offerings, we are excited to continue working with our wonderful students.
A multi-sensory approach to learning is the key to success. Our top priority is for students to be successful, increase self-esteem and confidence, and above all stay healthy. The low student-to-teacher ratio fosters a positive learning experience throughout the day. We provide opportunities for students to develop social skills along with academics.
MDE School, the only school of its kind in Cobb County, provides an exceptional learning environment where students with special needs have access to academics, music, drama, adaptive PE, enrichment programs and life skills training. MDE serves students with, but not limited to, Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, communication disorders, and developmental delays.
Since MDE School’s inception in 2009, enrollment has increased from 3 to 50 students from all over metro Atlanta. MDE is able to uniquely serve children with special needs who cannot be served in a traditional educational environment, and addresses each students’ learning, social, cognitive, and developmental goals allowing their students to maximize their potential.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Thanks to Karen Miller and Emily Volin of the Pope Band Parents Association for passing along word of their upcoming recycling fundraiser next month, which has been moved off-campus due to COVID-19 school closures.
The Aug. 22 event will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Northeast Cobb YMCA (3010 Johnson Ferry Road). The rest of the event is the same, and with details they provided below:
Bring your metal, electronics, appliances, paint and paper documents for shredding. Cost is $10 per car PLUS additional disposal fees of $40/TV, $30/monitor, $20/large item, $2-$15/paint container depending on size, and $20 for 1-8 standard boxes of paper for shredding.
Pick-up available within a 5-mile radius of Pope during the week prior with advance reservation. See www.popeband.com/recycle for complete details.
For questions and pickup reservations, emailpopebandrecycling@gmail.com. Please wear a mask to help protect our volunteers.
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Submitted information about a Pope High School graduate who recently earned a bachelor’s degree from Kennesaw State University with honors, and in only three years, and will soon be seeking a master’s in accounting:
Angie Jackson gained the foothold she wanted at Kennesaw State by keeping busy and taking advantage of opportunities during her undergraduate experience – and she did it with intense determination.
Jackson, an Honors student who officially graduates this week, earned a position as a trumpeter with the Marching Owls, studied abroad in Italy, joined two professional fraternities, and completed two internships – all while earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting in just three years.
A Zell Miller Scholarship recipient, Jackson was a trumpeter with her high school band. She said that her interest in attending Kennesaw State began when she was exposed to the University’s Marching Owls.
“Our school was undergoing construction, and KSU let us practice at their indoor band facility during our summer band camp,” said Jackson who graduated from Pope High School in Cobb County, Georgia. “When I saw the University and the Marching Owls, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be.”
While Jackson was focused on getting her degree, she also knew that she wanted to be active in campus life. She immediately auditioned for and earned a spot with the Marching Owls, and was section leader for two of her three years with the band. Her love of music also drew her to Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional women’s music fraternity, where she served as the philanthropy chair.
Zeroing in on the right major took her a little longer.
“I’m one of those people who loves all subjects, because I love to learn,” Jackson said. “While I knew I wanted to do something in business, I also knew I wanted something specific to focus on and that eventually led me to accounting.”
As an accounting major, the determined Jackson put her energy into networking opportunities. She became a member of the honors organization for accounting, finance and information systems majors, Beta Alpha Psi. She also attended KSU Career Fairs where she quickly secured her first internship in the accounting department of WarnerMedia as one of 12 interns.
“I got a lot of great experience there learning about invoicing and vendor relationships. I even had the opportunity to conduct training for new hires on some of the systems I was familiar with, which I really enjoyed,” she said.
WarnerMedia, however, wasn’t the only company to offer an internship to Jackson, and she said that she was shocked and excited that she was able to line up two internships within one recruitment season. The second firm, Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors, extended an internship offer to Jackson a year out for the 2020 spring semester.
Professor of Information Systems Adriane Randolph is one of Jackson’s professors and said that she isn’t surprised by the student’s success. “Angie gives 100 percent to all of her vigorous commitments while maintaining top marks across her coursework. She loves to learn and goes the extra mile whenever possible, and she will undoubtedly be successful in pursuing her future goals.”
In the fall, Jackson, who earned a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will make the transition to the Master of Accountancy program in the Coles College of Business. Meanwhile, her job prospects are already set for next summer as she’ll return to Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors as a business assurance staff accountant.
“I really didn’t think there were going to be that many opportunities at KSU, but once I joined the Marching Band, I made so many friendships and connections that will last a lifetime. It opened my world to so much, and I knew that I was where I was supposed to be,” Jackson said. “I feel like I had four years of college in three years with all that I did, and I feel very fortunate to stay at KSU for my master’s degree.”
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Marching band directors for the 16 high schools in the Cobb County School District announced Wednesday they would not be competing in band contests during the fall.
The directors issued a joint announcement (see below) that they also “affirmed our commitment to providing quality marching band activities for the 2020–2021 school year.”
John Palmer, the director of bands at Walton High School, said in a social media message that “in the current climate we do not feel we could safely put the time or financial resources into fielding a competitive show.”
Another factor, is said, was that Bands of America had cancelled its competitions on Tuesday.
The joint letter said that face-to-face rehearsals also would be discontinued for the time being, as the Cobb school district is starting the school year online-only.
“When circumstances allow, our bands will still engage in marching activity in conjunction with the Georgia High School Association football season. Should conditions and opportunities allow, we encourage programs to explore alternative marching arts activities for our students.”
The GSHA voted Monday to push back the start of football season by two weeks, to the first week in September.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last week that most extracurricular activities would be cancelled to start the school year, but that athletics would continue.
The band directors also said any band activities would be all-virtual in accordance with the Cobb school district’s fine arts and the Georgia Music Educators Association guidance.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb Board of Education has a adopted a tentative fiscal year budget of $1.3 billion that will not include pay cuts or furloughs for teachers and staff.
Chris Ragsdale, Cobb schools superintendent
It’s the first step toward formal budget adoption in August, three months later than usual.
That’s because of delays in state funding since the Georgia legislative session was delayed due to COVID-19.
Nearly half of Cobb County School District funding comes from the state, which is cutting that amount this year by $62 million.
“Now more than ever, our staff who have responded successfully and professionally to each obstacle they have encountered over the past several months, need to know that we are there to support them. They are our first priority because they make our students their first priority,” Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in a statement.
The school board also will be holding the property tax rate at 18.9 mills, which has stayed the same for nearly two decades.
The budget proposal would include using $31 million in reserve funds to help offset the state budget cuts. Funding under Georgia’s Quality Basic Education Act is expected to be $518 million.
Local property tax digest growth of 5.15 percent will yield an additional $48 million in revenue (for a total of ($541 million); therefore the district must conduct public hearings for what under state law is considered a property tax increase.
(More financials, including line-item details, can be found here in what’s called the budget popular report.)
Cobb schools also received nearly $16 million in CARES Act funding from the Georgia Department of Education, and this week was granted $8.1 million from the Cobb Board of Commissioners in more CARES Act funding for distance learning content.
Charisse Davis, one of three Democrats on the board and who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, advocates revisiting the Cobb senior tax exemption and closing some loopholes.
On Thursday she asked for information not included in the budget proposal that revealed that this year the senior tax exemption is worth $132 million, up from $122.7 million in 2019, $111.9 million in 2018, and $101.1 million in 2017.
However, she’s been unable to get the board’s Republican majority to consider the matter. Some of them favor working to change the state’s educational “Fair Share” formula, under which school districts must send the amount of 5 mills from their local property tax revenues to the state.
The Cobb school district said for FY 2021 that Fair Share amount is $166 million.
The Cobb school board is to hold one more public hearing on the budget, on Aug. 20, the same day it formally adopts it.
In the meantime, the board also approved on Thursday a spending resolution to fund operations for the month of August, with revenues of $107 million and expenses of $111 million.
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With the start of the school year going online-only, the Cobb County School District has added a way for parents to request devices for students who need them.
Parents are asked to go to the ParentVUE portal and log in, then click the “Back to School Choice” from the menu bar on the left. From there click “Full Remote” then “My child does not have access to a device, and I am requesting one.”
The district’s special website, Cobb Learning Everywhere, is providing updated information on all aspects of the reopening.
Earlier this week the district received $8.1 million in CARES Act funding from the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will be used to acquire and develop digital curriculum and related content for the existing Cobb Teaching and Learning System portal.
The funds won’t be spent on purchasing devices for students. When school campuses closed in March, the district worked with the Cobb Schools Foundation to provide devices for students who needed them.
At a commissioners work session Monday, Ragsdale said some of the Chrome Books that were provided were not claimed.
But critics of the reopening plans said adequate technology was not provided to students in need, and worried that they would fall further behind.
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After failing to come to a consensus over a modified anti-racism resolution proposed in June, the Cobb Board of Education is tabling the matter once again.
This time it’s for 90 days, as the board agreed following a lengthy discussion at its work session Thursday.
Board member Randy Scamihorn presented a revised resolution but board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard said they could not support it and asked him to withdraw it.
Howard distributed his own version on social media earlier this week (you can read it below) that calls for the Cobb County School District to commit to “actively working against systemic racism and bias” and acknowledges that “systemic racism and racial prejudice” have left a “devastating legacy” in Cobb County.
He also wants the district to undertake “targeted anti-racist programs and policy.”
Scamihorn objected to the phrase “systemic racism” and said Howard’s resolution was “too stark” and not unifying enough.
“I’ve tried to build a positive document,” Scamihorn said, although he didn’t have his version available during the meeting. (We’ve asked for a copy and will post it when we get it.)
Both Howard and Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters are black Democrats; the board’s four-member Republican majority are white.
David Morgan, a black Democrat from South Cobb, kept pushing for a compromise that would get to a 7-0 vote. He said what Scamihorn revised “checked the boxes that would have had my support. I’m an African-American man and I want to get along with everyone.
“We need something to speak to that,” that speaks to all in a school district with 113,000 students and 18,000 teachers and staff.
“Mr. Morgan is optimistic we can come to a consensus, and good Lord, I hope he’s right,” Scamihorn said.
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The Cobb County School District has announced it intends to acquire property near Walton High School, next to land designated for a new sports complex for the school’s varsity softball and tennis teams.
During a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday afternoon, Marc Smith, the district’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer, stated the board’s intent to purchase two land parcels.
They’re 3.5 acres at 1483 Pine Road for $2 million, and 1.2 acres at 3753 Providence Road for $650,000 (indicated by the blue stars on the map above).
The announcement was made after the board emerged from an executive session, where land matters are discussed.
Those parcels are located next to 15.2 acres on Pine Road that the district purchased in November for $3 million (red star), after threatening the property owner, Thelma McClure, with eminent domain.
Smith said the purchase of the additional property is scheduled to be finalized at the board’s August meeting, but he didn’t elaborate. There was no discussion by the board during the brief voting meeting, which followed a nearly-five-hour work session that included the announcement that the new school year would start online-only.
According to Cobb Tax Assessors records, the Pine Road property is owned by Harold and Joan Estes, and has a single-family ranch home built in the early 1960s.
The Providence Road land is owned by Maudelle Gilbert Gibson, and a single-family home there was built in the mid-1970s.
Since 2014, the Walton softball and tennis teams have competed at Terrell Mill Park, giving way to a new classroom building.
Walton softball parents had been lobbying for the new complex, and were considering legal action under Title IX, a federal education sex discrimination law, since the Walton boys’ baseball team has remained on campus.
Funding for the property acquisition comes from Cobb Education SPLOST V revenues. So will construction costs, but those have not been determined.
When it’s finished sports complex will be the final component of a comprehensive rebuild of the Walton campus.
The new classroom building opened in August 2017 at a cost of $48 million, and last fall a new gymnasium and performing arts theatre opened where the original classroom building once stood, with a price tag of $31 million.
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Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday morning that the Cobb County School District will be starting online-only, instead of with original plans to offer in-person classes and remote options.
At the start of the Cobb Board of Education work session, Ragsdale said that “this decision has been weighing on me for a while” and that his decision to go to online only was done in part because the district “could not provide any more information than the people asking the questions.”
The school year will still start on Aug. 17, and teachers will still report on July 26, Ragsdale said, but current public health data and guidance from the Georgia Department of Education “does not support opening” with classroom instruction possible.
Ragsdale did not say how long online-only learning would last, and that the district could later add classroom learning.
Ragsdale said public health data indicated that Cobb remains in a “high community spread” status for the COVID-19 virus.
“The sooner we can get out of the high spread the sooner we can return to face-to-face,” Ragsdale said in a question related to that subject by school board member Charisse Davis.
“Our teachers are awesome, and they will continue to do an awesome job virtually, but nothing takes the place of in-person instruction from our Cobb County teachers,” he said. “I am not setting a timeline for how long our students will engage in virtual learning. We will continue to monitor the data and work with public health officials so we can open for face-to-face instruction as soon as humanly possible.”
You can watch Ragsdale’s announcement in full below.
Ragsdale said while many on-campus events are not being scheduled, high school athletics is still on for now.
He said parents and teachers have had many questions about reopening plans, both academic and otherwise, and said that the health of students and staff “is our top priority.”
Here’s more from the district about the decision, with more details expected.
Parents had until next Wednesday to choose a classroom or virtual option for their children for the fall semester.
Parent and teacher groups had scheduled a protest later today at the CCSD central office to express concern about the original reopening plans.
Other metro Atlanta school districts have announced online-only starts, including Atlanta. On Thursday, after Ragsdale’s announcement, the superintendents of Marietta and Fulton County schools said they also would be starting virtual-only.
School board Jaha Howard praised the Cobb decision, saying it “was the right thing” to do, and said the district needs to be more transparent in its decision-making process.
Ragsdale said “this is a totally different environment” from the end of the previous school year, which switched to virtual-only after the district closed campuses in mid-March.
He said the district is still soliciting parental surveys to help in its decisions moving forward.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb Board of Education is holding its monthly meetings starting Thursday morning, and at least two groups critical of reopening plans are staging a protest later in the day.
A group of parents calling itself School ROCS (Reopen Our Classrooms Safely) has called for a march to start at 5 p.m. Thursday at Larry Bell Park in Marietta, then to proceed to the nearby Cobb County School District central office.
On Wednesday, the Cobb County Association of Educators said it would join in, and asked its members to wear red to “protest the lack of information regarding returning to school and working conditions for employees.”
The school board is holding its work session, executive session and voting meeting in succession in virtual form starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. (Agendas here.)
The board hasn’t met in person or heard public comments since the COVID-19 outbreak shuttered schools in March.
Since announcing its protest, ROCS has blistered Cobb school district officials, primarily in social media forums, for its reopening plan.
The group thinks the district’s plans, which were revised last Friday, are not complete and have left parents, staff and students confused.
The start of the school year has been delayed by two weeks to Aug. 17, but ROCS said it wants a further delay for a “safe, realistic, comprehensive plan” that includes information on how it plans to respond to CDC guidance, contingency plans for what to do when students and staff test positive for the virus and to make masks mandatory.
The district is “expecting” staff and “strongly recommending” students wear masks, but is not requiring them.
ROCS, whose leaders including incoming school board member Tre Hutchins, also wants the district to lay out plans to assist low-income families who may need more digital resources as the school year goes along.
Hutchins was among those speaking this week at a Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting to protest the district’s CARES Act funding request that calls for online content acquisition only, and not funding to aid students already at a disadvantage.
Parents have until Friday to choose a classroom or remote learning option for their students. They will not be allowed to switch options until after the fall semester.
An East Cobb parent who’s been critical of the district on bullying issues has launched an online petition to make masks mandatory in Cobb schools.
Rob Madayag, who briefly was a candidate for the school board seat held by David Banks, said in a social media posting that he’s “still in disbelief that the Cobb County School District would think it’s fine to put an adult teacher in close proximity to 20 or 30 bioweapons factories the entire day without reducing the risk to the teacher by requiring kids wear masks.”
Madayag has long disputed Cobb school district discipline figures. Those will be one of the items to be discussed Thursday at the board’s work session.
The agenda also includes discussion of an anti-racism resolution that was delayed from last month, and another interim spending resolution until the board can finalize a fiscal year 2021 budget.
District officials are expected to present a budget proposal to the board in August. That’s been delayed due to the COVID-related delay in the legislative session, and Thursday’s meeting also calls for what’s called a tentative budget adoption.
Cobb schools gets around half of its $1.1 billion budget from the state, and is anticipating a $62 million shortfall due to state budget cuts.
A virtual budget public forum begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, followed by a virtual tax digest public hearing.
All of Thursday’s meetings can be viewed online here on the Cobb school district’s website, or on Comcast Cable Channel 24.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Submitted information and photos about three East Cobb students—two from Pope and another from Wheeler—who took place in the 6th Congressional District Art competition:
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Marietta) has announced the winners of the 2020 Sixth District Congressional Art Competition. McBath recently hosted a virtual reception and awards ceremony with the participants and their families.
“I was so impressed by the talent and creativity of these high schoolers,” said McBath. “I am so grateful to each and every one of our participants for sharing their gifts with our community. These days, it is so important that we celebrate and uplift artists and the beauty they bring to our lives.”
The winners of the Sixth District 2020 Congressional Art Competition are:
First Place:“Puebloan Memories of the Past and Present” by Connor Johnson (Centennial High School)
Second Place:“Stranger” by Evelyn Armstrong (Pope High School)
Third Place:“This is I” by Elisa Xia (Chattahoochee High School)
The first place winner of the competition will have their work displayed in the Cannon Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol. The second place winner will have their work displayed in Rep. McBath’s Washington, DC office. The third place winner will have their work displayed in Rep. McBath’s Sandy Springs District Office.
In total, twenty students competed in the 2020 Sixth District Congressional Art Competition. High schools represented in the competition included Pope High School, Chamblee Charter High School, Milton High School, SKA Academy of Art and Design, Northview High School, Centennial High School, Chattahoochee High School, Johns Creek High School, Wheeler High School, and Cambridge High School. To view a virtual gallery of all submissions for this year’s competition, pleaseclick here.
Founded in 1962, the Congressional Art Competition celebrates and promotes the arts in high schools across America. Over 650,000 students have participated in this competition since its inception. This is Rep. McBath’s second year hosting the competition for the Sixth District.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve an $8.1 million request from the Cobb County School District for resources to bolster online learning, but not after another testy discussion for the second day in a row.
By a 3-2 vote, commissioners signed off on funds from the federal CARES Act so the district can purchase content to add to its Cobb Teaching and Learning online portal that could accommodate the full 113,000-student enrollment for remote instruction if necessary.
The county received $132 million from the federal government to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, and commissioners have spent $50 million for small business grants, as well as funding for non-profits for emergency food supplies and to help tenants work with landlords to pay back rent and avoid eviction.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the majority of the funding the district was seeking would be spent on content from a variety of sources. In March Cobb schools switched entirely to remote learning, but Ragsdale has said the district needs a “more robust” portfolio of digital materials should classes go 100 percent online.
The Cobb school district has pushed back the start of classes to Aug. 17 to prepare for in-person and online options that parents are choosing this week.
Three other metro Atlanta school districts have said they are holding fall semester classes online only.
Ragsdale told commissioners another superintendent asked him if Cobb would be going to online-only, and he said that “it’s a rumor, but no decision has been made.”
After Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Commissioner Lisa Cupid clashed at a Monday work session to hear the district’s proposal, Cupid blistered Ragsdale when she asked whether he had run the request by the Cobb school board.
Ragsdale said that the CTLS project has been in development for several years, and that he had discussed the CARES Act request at school board’s June meeting.
At that point, she interrupted him, saying she’s heard from multiple school board members who’ve said they’ve never been presented with the funding request.
Cupid also said teachers have been e-mailing her about the matter.
“I cannot support anything that my peers on the BOE have not authorized,” said Cupid, of South Cobb, who is facing Boyce in the November election for chairman.
She told Ragsdale that due to the way he presented the funding request, “my intelligence is being undermined.”
Cupid didn’t identify the board members, but she continued expressing concerns from Monday about students lacking access to technology, and implored him to “not let these students fall further behind.”
Several citizens spoke during the commissioners’ public comment session Tuesday in opposition to the district requesting CARES Act funds only for technology. Some identified themselves as Cobb school teachers and a former Cobb school counselor, and said that students in need still need laptops, and teacher and staff need personal protective equipment.
They said they were coming to commissioners because the school board has not heard public comments since going to virtual meetings in March.
The speakers included incoming school board member Tre Hutchins, who also wants the district to regularly provide students with masks, which aren’t in the reopening plans. Staff will be provided masks, although neither they nor students are required to wear them.
Cupid and Keli Gambrill voted against the school district’s funding request; commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb supported it, as did Boyce.
Boyce said before the vote that Ragsdale’s request federal guidelines for CARES Act distribution.
While he said that “I acknowledge all the issues” commissioners heard, “the real issue” is that the district is facing a $62 million budget deficit.
While CARES Act funding can’t replace all of that, Boyce said the “request reflects the sentiment” of the superintendent and the school board.
Commissioners are delaying a CARES Act request from Marietta City Schools until July 28.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The final group of National Merit Scholarship recipients this year include three Walton High School seniors who will be receiving aid from their chosen universities.
They are Daniel Catanese (music) and Guy Kemelmakher (mechanical engineering), who will be attending the University of Georgia, and Erik Pitts (business), who is headed to Texas A & M University.
These scholarships range from between $500 and $2,000 each. Recipients were chosen after submitting an application that included an essay describing leadership positions and contributions in school and community activities, as well as their academic and being endorsed and recommended by a high school official.
Let East Cobb News know what your organization is doing, or share news about what people are doing in the community—accomplishments, recognitions, milestones, etc.
Pass along your details to: editor@eastcobbnews.com, and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.
Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.
We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file. Of course, send us links that are relevant to your message so we can direct people to your website.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale says the district needs to complete a “more robust” online learning portal.
A presentation by the Cobb County School District for emergency funding resulted in a bit of a clash between county commissioners Monday.
The Cobb and Marietta superintendents are seeking CARES Act funding from the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is overseeing distribution of $132 million for responses to COVID-19.
Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale is seeking $8.1 million for the CCSD to complete development of its Cobb Teaching and Learning System, an online resource that became more heavily utilized than usual when district schools closed to in-person learning in March.
Ragsdale told commissioners that the final phase of the portal, called CTLS Learn, has been in progress but needs to become “a more robust” resource should schools have to close again.
He said the district has redirected existing funding for that effort, “but we’re going to run out of funding” to have CTLS Learn ready by the time classes begin on Aug. 17.
“We have to be prepared with 113,000 students and 8,000 teachers to be online with CTLS without missing a beat,” Ragsdale said.
The district is offering both classroom and remote learning options for students, whose parents have all this week to choose that environment.
The CARES Act funding, Ragsdale said, would enable the district to purchase and develop enough online curriculum materials to accommodate full-fledged distance learning.
CTLS currently has around 700,000 resources, he said, and the additional elements would be purchased from vendors, obtained from open sources and developed in-house.
Ragsdale also said that unlike the end of the last school year, when students’ grades as of March 13 were allowed to stand, there will be academic accountability.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who represents South Cobb, said she was disappointed the district’s proposal didn’t include technology assets—computers and internet access—for students in need.
Ragsdale said that wasn’t part of his proposal, and based on unused Chrome Books that were given out this summer to students in need, he was confident the district could provide them.
She also asked if the district would be providing masks to students, since they’re not going to be required, and Ragsdale said that each student would be given one mask. Masks also will be available for teachers and staff, who are “expected” to wear them.
At that point, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce cut off Cupid, saying her questions were off-topic, telling her “I’m running this meeting.”
She protested, saying all aspects of the district’s preparations for the start of school were germane.
(Boyce and Cupid will be squaring off in the November general election in the chairman’s race).
Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb told Ragsdale that “all this could have been avoided” if the district had requested funding to pay employees and for personal protective equipment (PPE).
“If you had done that, there would have been no questions from the board,” Ott said. “I’d rather see a request for PPE than for a learning system.”
Ragsdale said he was asking the county for online learning funding since that’s “a finite amount of money, “whereas PPE funding “is a flexible amount.”
The Cobb school district received $16 million in CARES Act funding from the Georgia Department of Education, and Ragsdale told commissioners that’s being used to pay for employees providing student meals during the summer, and to help offset an anticipated $62 million budget deficit.
When asked by Commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb if the CTLS Learn could be completed by Aug. 17, Ragsdale said it could.
Marietta City Schools are asking for $2.9 million in CARES Act funding from the county, to be used for social distancing and safety measures that include classroom partitions and required masks, and for staffing to provide daily temperature checks for students.
Superintendent Grant Rivera also wants to purchase Chrome Books for every student in the district, which has around 9,000 students.
Commissioners will take action on both funding requests at their voting meeting Tuesday morning.
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The Cobb County School District on Friday issued updated reopening plans that “expect” teachers and other school employees to wear masks and “strongly recommend” that students wear them.
That language falls short of requiring masks, and a district official did not say late Friday afternoon whether those words could be interpreted as a mandate.
When asked by East Cobb News to explain the difference between “expect” and “recommend,” John Floresta, the district’s chief’s strategy accountability officer, said he was reading from the district’s new guidelines.
On Friday the district launched a new website, called Cobb Learning Everywhere, that details what parents and students can expect if they choose classroom instruction or a remote option.
Earlier this week, Cobb school board member Charisse Davis said the board was notified by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale that a mask requirement was forthcoming. But a district spokeswoman said Davis was improperly making public information that had not been finalized.
On her Facebook page, Davis reiterated on Friday night that she and other board members got an e-mail from Ragsdale “communicating that the district would be communicating that under new guidelines masks would be mandatory. There was no mention of keep it to yourself, and I fully expected the link to go out at about the same time which is how things have been done. Well…between Tuesday and now the superintendent changed his mind.”
Marietta City Schools and the University System of Georgia announced mask mandates earlier this week.
The district released the new guidelines, and procedures for choosing an instructional option, as part of its weekly COVID-19 updates, which you can find here.
Starting Monday, and continuing through July 22, parents can make their choices at the district’s ParentVue portal for classroom or remote learning for the fall semester. A few more details:
Students who are new to the District must first register as a Cobb student here. Once the school approves the registration, a ParentVue account will automatically be activated.
If parents already have a student enrolled in the District but do not have an active ParentVue account, the registering parent will need to contact the student’s school for activation.
“COVID-19 has brought more complications to schools than I have ever seen in over 30 years in Cobb County,” said Cobb Schools Board Chair Brad Wheeler. “The beliefs that have made our schools some of the best in the country will keep us that way. All students will have the opportunity to learn, and all students will see what a community can do when we use our differences to make us stronger.”
Cobb schools will be asking the Cobb Board of Commissioners this week for $8.1 million in CARES Act funding to expand distance learning capabilities in anticipation of students and their parents choosing to stay at home.
The reopening update calls for the mask recommendations, social distancing and cleaning practices in place, and additional health and safety protocols that include hand sanitizing stations at schools.
Parents are encouraged to inform staff if their children get sick and to keep them home if they have symptoms or are diagnosed with COVID-19. There will be isolated areas at the schools for students and staff who show symptoms of the virus.
School buses also will have hand sanitizers, and field trips will be suspended until further notice. Buses will be wiped down and disinfected after morning and afternoon runs each day.
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The Cobb County School District will be asking the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Monday for federal COVID-19-related funding to enhance distance learning options.
The district will make its presentation at a commission work session at 9 a.m. Monday. You can watch here on Cobb TV, the county’s public access channel, or tune in Channel 23 on Comcast cable.
The CCSD is seeking $8.125 million for “digital content acquisition, open education resources, and its own in-house content development.
“These costs will cover curriculum content development for every core subject, professional learning, translation, support and maintenance, and allow schools that currently spend their own discretionary funds on curriculum to instead spend those funds on other resources,” according to the proposal.
The work session agenda item explains the details, and the matter is up for commission action on Tuesday.
The Cobb school broke down the proposed costs here in Tuesday’s agenda item. The Tuesday meeting, which starts at 9 a.m., also can be seen online at the above link and on TV.
Cobb schools are in the process of offering parents the option of having their students go back to the classroom or continue a remote option that was undertaken when schools closed in March due to COVID.
Students who stay at home will be offered a separate curriculum, along with dedicated teachers who will instruct only via online.
The start of classes is being delayed two weeks in Cobb, to Aug. 17, to continue preparations and as concerns grow over a rising number of COVID cases in the county.
The Cobb school district is facing a deficit in the vicinity of $60 million for fiscal year 2021, which began on July 1. The district will be presenting its proposed budget next week to the Cobb Board of Education. The FY 2020 budget was $1.1 billion.
The district is currently operating on a special spending resolution this monthwhile the school board formulates a budget delayed by the delay in the legislative session.
Initially state budget reductions were projected to be around 14 percent, which would have left Cobb schools with an $80 million deficit, but the final cuts were around 10 percent.
The Cobb school district has received $16 million in federal CARES Act spending through the Georgia Department of Education.
The Cobb commission received $132 million in CARES Act funding, and has spent $50 million to assist small businesses and another $1 million for low-income renters affected by COVID closures.
The online content the Cobb school district wants to acquire would expand the district’s CTLS online learning portal (Cobb Teaching and Learning System) that’s also accessible for parents.
The curriculum content proposed includes open education resources for both classroom and remote environments, as well as “curated content” reviewed and approved by credentialed educators, and licensed content.
The agenda item said the Cobb school district’s proposal is “a complete content solution” that would cost “a fraction” of a similar acquisition recently by the Chicago Public Schools, which is spending $253 million over five years.
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Cobb Board of Education member Charisse Davis said Tuesday that the Cobb County School District will be requiring masks after all.
Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, announced on her Facebook pagethat masks will be required for students and staff, and that “exemptions will be granted as needed. That is all the information I have right now from the superintendent.”
The district has not made an announcement; East Cobb News has contacted a district spokeswoman, and here’s the response she provided:
“While information was provided to the Cobb Board of Education, it was not meant to be released publicly at this time. In an effort to be as accurate as possible, we will continue to provide details for the 2020-2021 school year when those details are finalized.”
Last week Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said that while mask use would be “absolutely” encouraged, he was not making it mandatory.
Shortly after that, Marietta City Schools said masks would be required. On Monday, the University System of Georgia also mandated masks for staff and students at all of its campuses, including Kennesaw State University.
Davis’ message was shared on a Facebook group devoted to Cobb schools topics, and many parents approved. Others expressed concerns about making young children wear them. One commenter said she is a Cobb schools teacher who hasn’t been told anything about a mask mandate.
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The Cobb County School District has delayed the start of classes by two weeks later than scheduled due to planning and concerns over COVID-19.
The Cobb Board of Education voted 7-0 Thursday in a special called meeting to begin instruction on Aug. 17, instead of Aug. 3.
“There are a number of things that are out of our control,” Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said, as the district plans for the coming school year.
A two-week delay, he said before the vote, “would give us ample time to get all the information we need to properly communicate” with parents about how the start of the school year will proceed.
Last week Ragsdale said the school year would be starting on time, and in classrooms on Aug. 3, and parents would be offered a remote option that they would have to commit to for at least one full semester.
Parents can still choose to have their children either in the classroom or a remote option. If they choose the virtual option, they must commit to it for at least one semester.
An online registration portal that was to have opened Thursday and closed July 10 is being postponed for now, Ragsdale said.
“More likely, it’s going to be an open date without a closing date.”
All teachers, principals and other staff scheduled to report on July 27 will still begin on that date.
The delayed Cobb graduation schedule announced last week also will continue as rescheduled, between July 13-24, at McEachern High School.
Cobb has the second-largest school district in Georgia, with nearly 113,000 students in 112 schools.
Ragsdale said the two-week delay will not alter the rest of the 2020-21 academic calendar, including week-long breaks in September and February.
“We are not looking to delete” either of those breaks, he said, adding that the district would not have to make up those dates, and that “we’re going to work” to meet curriculum requirements with the modified calendar.
The Cobb decision comes after Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order extending the state’s public health emergency to Aug. 11.
Last week, the Fulton County School System announced it would be delaying the start of classes by a week, from Aug. 10 to Aug. 17.
School board member Charisse Davis asked if masks will be required for students, teachers and staff in the school buildings.
Ragsdale said that while masks are “absolutely expected and strongly recommended,” and that social distancing cannot be guaranteed in a classroom, he will not be mandating that they be worn.
He said the extra two weeks will help those involved with digital and remote learning lessons and logistics and generally give the district flexibility in case health guidance shift again.
Students in remote learning environments will have teachers who will not be in the classroom, and vice versa.
Also complicating the district’s plans are a possible $62 million budget deficit. The board has not been able to adopt a budget for fiscal year 2021, which began Wednesday, due to delayed funding from the legislature.
The board is expected to enact a budget at its July 16 meeting.
“Quite honestly, we don’t have all the answers right now,” Ragsdale said, “and we don’t know what’s going to change next.”
The Cobb school district Coronavirus resource page keeps updated information on back-to-school plans, health guidance, regisration and more.
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The Cobb Board of Education will hold a special called meeting on Thursday to discuss the starting date for the 2020-21 school year as concerns over rising COVID-19 cases have sparked new governmental responses.
The virtual meeting starts at 4 p.m. and can be seen online by clicking here or on television on the Cobb County School District’s public access cable channels (Channel 24 on Comcast and Channel 182 on Charter).
Last week Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the school year would be starting on time, and in classrooms on Aug. 3, and parents would be offered a remote option that they would have to commit to for at least one full semester.
Those were responses to rising COVID-19 cases in Georgia and Cobb County, which now has surpassed the 5,000 mark.
Another executive order from Kemp pertaining to social distancing guidance also called for the Georgia Department of Education to provide “rules, regulations and guidance” for the operation of K-12 public schools for local school boards “to depart from a strict interpretation on the definition of ‘school year,’ ‘school month’ or ‘school day.’ ”
Since then, the Fulton County School System has delayed the start of its school year by a week, from Aug. 10 to Aug. 17.
Some Cobb parents and teachers have started petitions (here and here) demanding answers from the Cobb school district about the starting plans, which haven’t yet been detailed.
Those questions include the provision of resources for remote learning, class sizes for those who go back to school, cleaning and sanitizing procedures and protocols for when a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19.
Other requests ask that the start date be pushed back to Aug. 10 and extend the deadline for parents to choose remote or classroom instruction beyond July 10.
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Socially-distanced desks in a classroom at the Lower School at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy.
Not long after closing the books on a chaotic school year, staff teachers and at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy are preparing for what they hope will be a less disjointed academic year that starts in little more than month.
Although built-in to their plans is the flexibility to be able to handle disruptions.
Classroom instruction is set to begin on Aug. 6, as previously scheduled, and measures are being taken to emphasize in-person learning.
“If we have to go home, we have enough laptops,” said Lisa Nelson Kelly, the head of the lower school campus adjacent to Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church on Lower Roswell Road.
“It’s not an optimal learning environment, and we’re hopeful we don’t have to do it.”
She said laptops would be issued for students in grades 3-12, while those in kindergarten through third grade would get iPads.
Like the Cobb County School District, Mt. Bethel sent students home in mid-March, as the COVID-19 crisis prompted lockdowns of schools, businesses and most aspects of daily life.
Unlike the larger public school system—the second-largest in Georgia, with nearly 115,000 students—Mt. Bethel can adapt easier on the fly.
“We really wanted to be back on campus,” Kelly said. “But we wanted to make sure we could do it safely. We wanted to communicate with [students and their parents] so that they know the expectations.”
More than 530 students are enrolled on both Mt. Bethel campuses, including around 100 or so 9-12 students at the Upper School campus on Post Oak Tritt Road.
Daily chapel services will be streamed into classrooms, instead of students gathering in the church sanctuary. At the start of the school year, lunches will be served in classrooms, with the aim of moving to the cafeteria if and when it’s deemed safe.
The number of students allowed in restrooms or locker areas at any given time will be limited.
While they’re in class, mask-wearing won’t be required. But they will have to wear them as they’re going between classes, or to special classes and other events.
“We’re asking parents to provide 2-3 face coverings for their students” of any variety, Kelly said, “whatever the children feel comfortable wearing, on the limited occasions they’ll have to wear them.
Mt. Bethel parents have been sent a brochure (you can read it here) that explains the many changes that are in the works because of public health guidance.
A task force was created to put those plans into action, and Kelly said that group will be available as the school year goes on.
In addition to spacing out desks (as seen in the photo above), Mt. Bethel will be providing what Kelly calls a “safe room” for students who aren’t feeling well, a place where they can wait for parents to pick them up.
More cleaning and sanitizing of spaces on both campuses will take place, and everyone at both campuses must wash and sanitize their hands before entering a classroom.
A total of 25 hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the school buildings.
Water fountains have been shut off, to be replaced by bubblers. Students will be asked to bring water bottles with them that can be refilled.
Should remote learning be necessary, adapted lesson plans are being formulated for students and their parents to follow from home.
Unlike the remote learning option that the Cobb school district is planning, however, Kelly said Mt. Bethel will be offering that only to those families who have students who are health-compromised or if they have a family member who is.
The academic calendar has been altered and won’t have a fall break. The first semester will end before Thanksgiving and an extended break is scheduled around Christmas and New Year’s.
Kelly said after so many months of distracted learning, and so much in limbo about the upcoming year, she’s heard from many parents who are eager for their children to resume as normal a schooling as they can.
“They’re very much in favor of coming back to school,” she said.
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